Description: Extensions to the behavior of ISO/IEC 10038 (IEEE 802.1D) media access control (MAC) bridges, including the aspects of operation of remote MAC bridges that are observable on the interconnected LANs, are specified. A protocol for (optional) use between remote MAC bridges, across the non-LAN communications equipment that interconnects them, to configure the remote bridges within the bridged LAN in accordance with the spanning tree algorithm of ISO/IEC 10038: 1993, is also provided.